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Arctic Cat ‘hot on the trail’ with new UTV release, analyst says

December 3, 2013

A research note provided to Powersports Business by BMO Capital Markets analyst Gerrick Johnson following the introduction of Arctic Cat’s new 50-inch-wide Wildcat Trail side-by-side proclaims Cat is “hot on the trail.”

“We think the vehicle looks very appealing to riders in areas where forests dominate the landscape. The Trail is the first side-by-side from any company to challenge Polaris’ dominance of this segment since the introduction of its RZR 800 in MY2008,” Johnson reports. “The Wildcat Trail boasts impressive numbers on paper: 700cc of displacement generating 60-plus horsepower, 10.5 inches of suspension travel and is priced $500 cheaper than the Polaris RZR 800 it will compete against. Dealers appear excited about the new model, though we have not found any who have seen this vehicle in person, let alone ridden one. The vehicle is expected to arrive at dealers in early January. We had already included a trail-ready SxS in our earnings estimates and are not making any changes at this time. We currently estimate that ACAT will ship 3,000 Trail models in FY4Q14 (ending March 2014) and another 9,200 units in FY2015. On a calendar year basis, we expect ACAT to ship 9,000 units in 2014.”